Part 1. Deep apologies to F31club

In the mid 2000s, I had motivation, time, space, and money on my side (not too much though). I didn’t have responsibilities like I do now (family, work and even school).

After the meetings in Northern and Southern California, F31club as a whole was a tight knit community. The members were proud and also represented F31club outside of the forums, whether that be on other forums or car events. Anything M30 related, lead back to F31club.

My company laid off and I had to make a choice of either find another manufacturing job or go back to school to change careers. I chose school. This would lead me to move to California.

This transition was very hard for me, I left my comfort zone. I left behind my support structure (family and friends) to start over. I got a job getting paid $12 an hour and living in Burlingame, CA which took a lot of my money to pay rent. I was making $16 an hour in Seattle with cheap rent and 2 car garage.

This lead to my hobbies taking a hit. Since I had no space (as in a garage), I couldn’t do what I wanted to on my car. Even changing oil was a big issue because neighbors complained. I also had to give up my other cars. My RX7, My Cressida, my Vigor. While in California, my EG civic got stolen in Washington at my parent’s house.

My M30 couldn’t pass emissions and I didn’t have money to fix it. So it sat for years (I would drive it occasionally).

Chris Philips also gave me his RB20DET on a pallet. I just had to go pick it up in Southern California. But I had no place to store it or to even swap it.

This took a toll on my motivation. I then started focusing on school and family. I became distant to F31club. I’d jump on here and there. But I posted this in 2009:

might be hard to read, but let me quote it

Few years back, i had a ton of cars, going to japan, posting shit i could find on the m30, building models…. i had so much free time… now i dont have as much as it seems like i got deadlines to meet, classes to complete and responsibilities to keep up since things are more expensive here in Cali.

in a way, i felt that i had nothing to give to f31club as far as car building. i was seeing all these great builds and it was like i’m gettin hella surpassed, when i should be up there (I felt I should have done more mods). F31club was never about competition or to say who’s better.. i personally wanted my car to be there mod wise with my brethren. While moving to Cali was the best move for my life/career, it has also hampered alot of my hobbies (limited space to work on cars) and time. So modding my car was put on hold while i take care of alot of my main priorities.

f31club is fam to me though, so i will be on here more often and trying to help people out.

i think we hit another slump as far as modding goes, but i think everything right now is in a slump. there are more pressing issues for people that thier rides and that is understandable.

it also seems that people are starting to realize that m30 can only take you so far with out dumping a shitload of money or time in. i was eager to see some krazy builds, dynastyf31’s v8 m30…etc.. I also think people are starting to get occupied with other projects (cars) that seem to be way easier to build and have more fun with.

i’ve always said this, the m30 is a car you have to like for what it is. Each year that passes, we get further away from the era that the f31 was a part of. you wont see parts that were available 5, 10 yrs ago… so its gettin more scarce (and its not just aftermarket parts in japan) and i dont know if the f31 will ever have the renaissance that the 240, fc3s or 86 corolla has, bekuz it was never a car of that magnitude. ——————————- Does this mean the end of f31club? No. There is still work to do and alot of modding that needs to be documented. We might never have a vg30dett or v8 write up.. but we will have “how to fixes”, “what to look fors”, and simple appreciation for the F31. And really, that is how f31club started. Just appreciation for the f31.. no mods, no swaps, and jdm pictures to look at.

That last part was what I always fell back on. Just the simple appreciation for the F31.

F31club got hacked once. Which we lost the write ups and front page. Jacy would get the forums up again. I think slowly people moved on. M30s became a huge maintenance deal for them, some needed more reliable cars, others just gave up.

Facebook started group pages, and since many people were on facebook, it just made sense to talk in one place. Many forums fell due to this. This also made many people lazy in a sense they did not want to search forums or websites and read. It was more for that instant gratification and getting answers then and there.

Forums might have slowed down, but the INFORMATION, organization, the build threads, the historic and even nostalgic component of forums. The DOCUMENTATION, write ups, the pictures, the camaraderie the forums (at least F31club) build was amazing.

I was seeing all these swaps happening, guys going out drifting, M30s were getting built.. the theories turned into realities. But, since I was not evolving, I felt I didn’t have anything else to contribute. My M30 sat.

2010 – Jacy and I met up. He was moving and wanted to give me some stuff. Jacy was going back to school to get his MBA and was moving to Michigan. We talked for a bit and he offered me to take over F31club.

I was reluctant to take it because I didn’t know anything about the back end of the computer stuff. But I agreed with a soft, “yeah, sure”. I would soon also get back to school. I got back into school for a 2 year medical program. Additionally, my 1st son was born.

2012 – I graduated and started working in pediatric cardiology. Jacy would hit me up and again offer me f31club. He said he wanted to give it to someone he trusted and it was Scourge, Jason or me. I again gave him a hesitant “yeah man, I’ll get it”.

At this time, I decided to go back to school and get my 4 year degree at San Francisco State University.